• I am a co-sponsor of the Healthcare Equality and Accountability Act, H.R. 3561, which would seek to eliminate racial and ethnic disparities in health and healthcare delivery to improve health outcomes for minorities.  This legislation was created through a collaborative effort of the Congressional Black Caucus, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, and the Asian Pacific Caucus.  (This legislation awaits consideration by the House Committees on Commerce, the Judiciary, Resources, and Ways and Means.)
   
• I am a co-sponsor of the United States National Health Insurance Act, H.R. 676, which would establish the National Health Insurance Program to provide free health care to all persons living in the United States.  This Act would also establish a National Board of Universal Quality to ensure the quality of care provided through the National Health Insurance Program.  (This legislation awaits consideration by the House Committees on Energy and Commerce, Ways and Means, and Veterans Affairs.)
   
• In October 2004, I and my colleagues Congressman Mark Souder (R-Indiana) and Senator Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) instructed the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to examine the federal regulation of clinical medical laboratories.  We made this request after Ms. Kristin Turner, a laboratory technician at Maryland General Hospital, contracted HIV from a malfunctioning piece of lab equipment and her whistleblowing subsequently revealed that over a 14-month period, more than 2,000 patients had been issued invalid HIV and Hepatitis C test results due to lapses at the lab.  On June 27, 2006, the GAO released the results of its study, which revealed that the current regulatory regime for medical laboratories is not being implemented as required by law and that the inspection methods currently in place are not adequate to ensure that all labs meet rigorous quality standards and produce results that are reliable to guide medical diagnoses and treatment.
   
• To address the inadequacies in the current medical laboratory inspection regime, I authored the Clinical Laboratory Compliance Improvement Act of 2005, H.R. 686, which would provide federal whistleblower protection for medical laboratory workers who report problems in a lab’s testing programs, including non-compliance with federal regulatory standards.  This Act would also specify the regulatory steps that must be taken when a problem with a lab is reported to authorities.  Finally, the Act prohibits regulatory agencies from notifying labs of an impending inspection in advance of the inspection.  (This legislation awaits consideration by the Committee on Ways and Means and the Committee on Energy and Commerce.)
   
•  I authored House Resolution 863, which would express the sense of the House of Representatives that federal funding directed to support the development of advanced imaging technologies used to detect and treat prostate cancer should be increased.  More than 230,000 Americans are diagnosed with prostate cancer each year – and African American men have a 60 percent higher incident rate than do Caucasian men and are twice as likely to die from this disease.  (This resolution awaits consideration by the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.)
   

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